


Escape Route

by Iron_Aura



Series: Making Up For Forgotten Years [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Badly written fight scene tbh, Cop involvement, Fight Scene, M/M, Minimal angst this time, Mostly just the escape scene, Steve and Bucky are on the run from the cops and they try to protect each other, Steve contemplates how Bucky is a very different person now, characters on the run
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 10:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20794904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iron_Aura/pseuds/Iron_Aura
Summary: After searching for so long, Steve has finally relocated Bucky. And it looks like nothing has changed between them. But now they must make a fast getaway from German police, who believe that Bucky is still the Winter Soldier.In the process, Steve begins to realize just how different Bucky is, now. And that hurts, just a little bit.





	Escape Route

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while, but here's another part to this series! Still just a drabble pretty much, but I'm pretty happy with it. 
> 
> This is a direct continuation of the first drabble.

There were footsteps on the roof. 

It was inaudible to a normal human being, but Steve had no trouble hearing it. Neither did Bucky. Steve's eyes turned to the roof. "Sam, is that you up there?" he said into his comms line. 

"No," replied Sam. "I took off when I saw those guys comin' in. We're compromised. Looks like the cops know where to find your pal,"

"Damn..." Steve sighed. Then he turned to Bucky. "We gotta get outta here, Buck. If we leave now, we might be able to evade them,"

Bucky scoffed bitterly. Yeah, like that was going to happen. 

"This doesn't have to be a fight, Buck," Steve admonished. Meanwhile, the footsteps on the roof grew louder, and footsteps in the halls became audible to both super soldiers. 

Bucky grimaced slightly; Sadly. He pulled the glove off his metal hand, his eyes turning solid and just a little bit cold. He flexed his metal fingers. "It always comes to a fight," he mumbled. 

Steve shook his head and gave Bucky a look. He was sad that this was what his best friend - His lover - Had become. 

He still loved Bucky, of course. Nothing could change that, quite obviously. But it was still sad to see his partner so ready for a fight, yet clearly hating it. Steve remembered when fighting was something entirely different. Something that had an end, something that was somehow easier. 

But now it was a staple in their lives, and it was something they had to do, something they couldn't avoid, or so Bucky thought. 

No sooner than those words left Bucky's lips, the door to the small apartment was being kicked open. Armored officers burst into the room, guns drawn and more ready for the fight than even Bucky. 

Still, Bucky's reflexes proved faster, and he kicked a table at the officers, shoving them back out the doorway before they could cross the threshold. He looked at Steve with steely eyes, something desperate and wild in them, but also something contained and cold; Pieces of the Winter Soldier surfacing. 

"Let's go, Buck," Steve said firmly, marching towards the open window. 

Bucky glared over at the door, where the incapacitated officers lay under splinters of shattered table. Everything in his blood screamed for him to stay and fight, but he knew that Steve was right. To fight would be to risk capture. And to fight would mean to harm people who didn't deserve it. 

These weren't the Hydra goons who had chased him in the past. These weren't the bad guys. They were police officers just doing their job. It wasn't their fault they'd been informed that Bucky was the villain; Someone else up the chain was responsible for that. 

"No one has to die today," Steve said, once again trying to get Bucky to listen to him. He could see it in Bucky's eyes; The programmed desire to fight. His Winter Soldier programming itching to come out. 

It scared Steve just a little, to know - To fear - That Bucky wasn't entirely in control of himself. 

Bucky looked over to Steve, eyes still like steel. But then, they softened, and he nodded. He vaulted himself over the island in the kitchen, snagged a backpack of supplies along the way, and joined Steve at the window. 

Steve nodded to him as thanks, and then hauled the window open. He ushered Bucky out, and then flinched his shield up just in time to block a bullet from one of the officers who'd finally gotten back to his feet. 

Panic surged through Bucky as he heard the shot, unable to see Steve from the fire escape below. He knew that he should have run, should have kept moving, that had been the rule of the battlefield back in the day; Keep moving, don't make yourself a target. 

But he couldn't leave when he'd just heard someone shoot at Steve. Someone who was after  _him_ , not Steve. 

He couldn't stand the thought of Steve getting hurt because of him...

Before he could even think to shout Steve's name, there was the blond, vaulting himself out of the window, completely unscathed. 

Bullets whizzed past him as he fell down to the fire escape next to Bucky. He gave Bucky a look. "Now why are you just standing there?"

There was tease in Steve's voice, like so many times from the past when they'd been in battle together. But unlike in the past, Bucky couldn't think of some sarcastic thing to say back. Instead, all he could do was stare back with semi-wild eyes. 

He was a different person, now. A person who'd lost everything and now had just one little piece back. And he didn't want to lose it again...

Steve could see in Bucky's eyes that something was wrong. So he didn't hold it over him when he didn't respond to the sarcasm the way Steve had been hoping or expecting. Instead, Steve grabbed Bucky's arm, and hauled him down the fire escape ladders, down to the ground below and into the streets. 

"Sam," Steve barked into his communications line as they began to race through the streets. "We've hit the streets, as you'd say. You got eyes on us?"

"Sure do. At your six," replied Sam. 

Steve looked above and behind them to see the figure of his battle partner soaring above them. Bucky's eyes instinctively followed. 

"That guy's on our side, right?" asked Bucky, turning back to Steve. 

"Yeah," Steve answered. Then he pointed his next words back to Sam. "Do you see anyone following us?"

"'Fraid so, Cap," responded Sam. "Two groups are flanking you on the roofs, I'd say they're the advanced team,"

"Anyone else? Vehicles?" asked Steve, as he and Bucky made a sharp turn to avoid a crowd. Behind them, a squad of officers spotted them, and opened fire.

Steve swore aloud, jerking his shield up to catch a bullet. Bucky's eyes became wild again, and he yanked Steve's arm to then drag him down some other street. 

"I know this place," hissed Bucky when Steve tried to protest. "I know a safe place to go,"

"We have a rendezvous point," argued Steve. "This isn't in the plan,"

Bucky grit his teeth. "We can get to your rendezvous point once we lose these guys..."

Steve looked to Bucky, and then nodded. "Right. Sam, stay on us, we're taking a different route. Bucky knows a place, and thinks it's best to lose these guys first,"

"Ten-four," said Sam. "The rooftop runners are still onto you, think they might try an aerial assault. Want me to take care of them?"

"Be my guest," Steve replied, letting Bucky lead him down another alleyway with high buildings, where no one could shoot at them from above. That was smart, Steve felt, and suddenly he wasn't questioning Bucky's sudden and forced change of plans as much.

Bucky did indeed know the area, after all. But that wasn't the only reason he was pushing his own escape plan. 

He didn't want to see Steve - The kid he'd tried so hard to protect in Brooklyn - be hurt because of him. He was a broken shell of what he'd used to be, and he wouldn't forgive himself if Steve got hurt trying to save the mess of a man he'd become. 

He didn't feel like he was worth that. 

Steve may have come there to save him, but Bucky wasn't going to let Steve get hurt for that. He'd put himself in harm's way far sooner. 

Maybe it was because he'd stopped valuing himself a long time ago, or maybe he was because he loved Steve that much. But regardless of that, he'd lay down his life for Steve if he had to. 

The thing was, Steve felt the same way about him. 

The two super soldiers sprinted through the city at highway speeds, dodging people and landscaping as they went. Above them, Sam engaged the officers on the rooftops, trying to take them out without killing any of them. 

Bucky took another sharp turn, dragging Steve along with him. And then he shouldered his way past a rickety door, into one of the buildings. It was dusty and full of mildew inside; Clearly hadn't been used in a long while. He dragged Steve through the building and out the back door, onto a completely different and new street. 

That was when the full-on gunfire started. 

Steve's shield caught the first rounds. Then he found himself being shoved in front of Bucky by the man himself, and Bucky was then using his metal arm to block a storm of bullets, the lead leaving little scratches on his metallic limb. 

Moments later and Steve was shoving Bucky out of the way, his shield coming up to once again take the barrage. 

They were both trying to protect the other, yet neither wanted to be protected. It was a vicious cycle. 

From on high, Sam saw what was going on, and dropped a smoke bomb into the fray. It went off, shrouding the area in thick smoke that only the two super soldiers could see through. 

Bucky hauled Steve forwards, down another side street, through another dilapidated building, and back onto another street. They cut through an open market - Both knowing that this was risky - and then down yet another street. 

"How we looking?" Steve asked his wingman. 

"Good," Sam replied. "I think you've lost them,"

Bucky wasn't entirely sure about that one. "Better to be safe than sorry..." he mumbled, then rounded another corner and ducked into another building. Steve followed. 

This time, they headed upstairs and onto the rooftops. "You sure this is a good idea, Buck?" asked Steve as Bucky climbed up. "They were up here before,"

"My place only has rooftop access," Bucky explained. "And the view is always better from up here. We'll see anything coming from a mile away,"

"That's good strategy," said Sam, having heard Bucky from how close he was to Steve. 

Steve thought about it a moment, before following Bucky up to the roofs. He watched Bucky leap across to an adjacent roof, and then followed. "Let's keep our eyes peeled,"

"Always do," Bucky replied. He intended to keep all his senses peeled and sharp. 

Sprinting as fast as they could, the duo made their way across the rooftops, towards the safehouse Bucky had in mind. 

In the distance, they heard a helicopter's blades whirring. "Damnit..." hissed Steve. 

Bucky eyed the chopper just seconds before he was leading Steve down the rooftop door of a building that didn't stand out anymore than the others in the city. 

They dropped down into the broken building, and took but one moment to catch their breath. 

"You think they saw us?" asked Steve. 

"We shouldn't waste time finding out," Bucky mumbled in response. He started off through the building, heading downstairs and then down a hidden hatch that lead to an underground tunnel. Steve followed him, and together they headed underground. 

They slowed as they headed through the underground tunnels that smelled like old water. They had just a little bit of time to take to be this slow. And technically speaking, it wasn't slow at all. Their "slow jog" would have been like a sprint to someone like Sam. 

But they'd put enough distance between themselves and the enemy that they could afford this slower speed. It wasn't likely that the officers could clear that building and find the secret hatch quite so quick and easy. 

If anyone had even seen them go in there to begin with. 

"Sam," said Steve. "We've gone underground,"

"I can tell, I'm losing you on radar," Sam responded. "Keep me posted with where you're at,"

"Will do," Steve replied. "We're headed east, right now,"

"Got it. Destination?" asked Sam. 

Steve turned to Bucky, who had the most focused look on his face. "Where we headed to, Buck?"

"Abandoned train station," replied Bucky, sounding almost mechanical. 

Steve studied his partner for a moment, realizing that Bucky's fight mode wasn't what it used to be. Something was different, now... Bucky was too tense, too hard and focused. Was that pieces of the Winter Soldier showing? Or just the affects of years of abuse and fighting?

Steve couldn't tell. 

Steve relayed those words to Sam, who located the coordinates of the place. "Got it," he said. "I'll meet you there,"

Bucky and Steve continued through the underground tunnels, which quickly began to look much like the abandoned train station they were leading to. 

Soon enough, Bucky was shouldering open a huge, heavy, old door, and they were stepping into an old subway station. 

Panting, they both slowed to a stop. "This the place?" Steve questioned. 

Bucky nodded singularly to say yes. He was rigid and tense, and Steve didn't like that. 

So Steve stepped close to Bucky, grabbing his right hand. "We're okay, Bucky. You can relax,"

Bucky gave a quiet scoff that could have easily been mistaken as a sigh. He looked just a bit pained. "It's not that easy..."

Steve looked at Bucky for a moment, studied the way he seemed to be fighting with his own body. "Is it... Is this... Is your... Programming acting up?"

Bucky glanced over at Steve, looking both cold and vulnerable. "Sort of... It's... Like an echo of it, yeah..."

Steve nodded slowly. "Does it hurt?"

"No," Bucky replied quietly. There was more he could have said, could have explained how it was like an extreme fight or fight response. Or an extreme trauma response, which it sort of was, the more he thought about it. It was an instinct that Hydra had burned into him as the Winter Soldier, and it hadn't entirely gone away, even now that he was in control of himself. 

Some parts of that had just been so severe that they were indeed burned into him. 

Steve could have pushed Bucky for more information, could have asked for him to explain. But he could see that Bucky was guarded, and so he didn't. Instead, he stepped closer, standing right in front of Bucky. "We're okay, Buck," he repeated, leaning closer to his companion until their lips nearly touched. "We're okay,"

Bucky hesitated just a moment, then nodded minutely, and leaned in to close the gap. 


End file.
